The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Ninth-grader Coy doesn’t feel
comfortable in his own skin. Neither does his best friend, Monroe.

Drawn together by their shared
outsider status and a mutual love of 1980s pop culture, the two white teens
help each other through the day-to-day craziness of middle school. Coy’s father
died years ago, and his mother has been institutionalized for six months,
leaving Coy to live somewhat awkwardly with his stepfather. The nickel in
Monroe’s braces have given her a rash around her mouth, which spreads to become
a life-threatening medical condition, throwing narrator Coy for a loop. Coy’s
insecurities compel him to ridicule others, and it’s easy to trip over the
slurs that come so easily to him, mostly variations on gay jokes: “It sounded
so ghey I wanted to die,” “Fifty Shades of Ghey,” among dozens. Coy himself is
a stereotype of a nerdy white boy who mindlessly disrespects others, from an
Asian receptionist (“whatever the hell brand of Chinese or Vulcan she was
speaking”) to the home-schooled (“They’re like the Amish, only even less deodorant”).
While the story contains a lot of humor, it comes at a cost, as the hefty
amount of teen slang threatens to overwhelm the plot. Still, Coy is a likable
narrator who wears his vulnerability on his sleeve for readers to see.

A witty, angst-filled drama that succeeds in
spite of its flaws. (Fiction. 13-17)

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